You might be looking at this picture and thinking, “That’s him.” You’d be both right and wrong — it’s him, but there’s so much more to the story. Let me take you on a journey through the upgrade that got me here.
My Past Life
When I say, “past life,” I mean it in every sense of the word. The version of myself I’m about to describe existed from 1999 to 2020.
He, unfortunately, passed away on the operating table while undergoing surgery to rid himself of sweaty palms (of all things), awaiting a promised chili cheese McDonald’s burger from his mom.
Damn shame too for what a stud he was. Mr. Firkin Perfect — from winning dux awards, chess trophies, math competitions, a black belt in karate, straight A’s in high school, and even prizes in coloring competitions.
To put the cherry on top, he was also an athletic fitness freak, the kind who goes to the gym daily and counts calories, making everyone else feel bad.
The Karate Kid
The dude wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty as a kid either. I’ll admit he looked like a bit of a badass in his karate gi, with trophies behind him and a missing tooth.
I could lie and tell you that he won all those trophies and lost his tooth beating down other kids, but the truth is, his mom just made him take a picture with them, and as for the tooth? collected by the tooth fairy after a fierce battle with rock-hard candy the day before.
My Motivation for Surgery
I am forever grateful for not dying in surgery. Can you imagine the headlines? ‘Boy Dies in Surgery for Sweaty Palms.’ How embarrassing.
Definitely NOT how I wanted to be remembered.
Sweaty palms though? Annoying. I’m sure many would be able to relate. Not being able to use your touchscreens, messing up pages when writing, slippery steering wheels while driving — it was a constant nuisance. But nothing felt like it required surgery.
Until one day, I held my crush’s hand for the first time and she said, “Eww.” That’s the moment, I decided on getting the surgery.
But don’t worry, her story isn’t over yet…
Waking Up To a New World
So, who am I now? I’m the guy who woke up from a two-month coma, piecing together his life.
When I woke, I wasn’t craving that chili cheeseburger anymore because I had a tracheostomy (a sort of breathing hole) in my throat and found myself connected to a ventilator. Speaking, let alone eating, was off the table.
I’ll spare the details of what went wrong, and skip to my first memory. My mom breaking down and asking if I wanted to know what had happened. At the time I didn’t even know where I was.
After she explained it all to me, I was in disbelief. It felt like a cruel joke. But no. The reality finally sunk in. I’d taken a two-month nap and I had a lot of to catching up to do
The top image shows me on the left with my younger brother on the right in November 2020, just a week before my procedure. The bottom image is from February 2021, when I was released from the hospital to the rehabilitation center
Rediscovering myself
Life humbled me quickly. I woke up in a body I barely recognized — 12 kilograms lighter, frail, and nothing like my once strong, frame. The coma turned out to be the ultimate weight-loss program (not recommended)
The lovely nurses in the picture were my family for the next few months helping to relearn how to walk, talk, read, write — and even use the bathroom on my own.
Each day was a new battle, but as frustrating as it was, I found joy in the process. It fueled my hunger for knowledge and growth.
I’ve always had impeccable timing
Yes, my brilliant self-decided to go into a coma during the global pandemic. While the world was panicking over COVID, my family was facing their own nightmare.
I don’t even want to imagine the trauma I put them through. It still gets me emotional thinking about it. Having to go through Christmas, New Year’s, and birthdays with me still in a coma.
But that’s family — they’ll do anything for you. They had to stay strong for me, and while it couldn’t have been easy, I’m endlessly grateful they stood by me and still support my dreams today.
From Hero to Zero
Recovery was progressing, until I faced the hardest blow. After a cognitive assessment, it was confirmed I had suffered a brain injury and my cognition had taken a hit. I was now performing below average intellectual level for my age.
Going from being a high achiever to being labelled as below-average was tormenting. I felt I’d lost a limb. Like I’d lost my identity.
Trapped in my own spotlight
Humor has always been my go-to way of dealing with dire situations. But honestly, my prior self-had set the bar so high for me that I always felt as if I were living in his shadow. They say, “Don’t compare yourself to anyone else but yourself.” But what if you are yourself? (If that makes sense.)
People kept saying, “Be grateful you survived; it could’ve been worse.” Sure, I wasn’t ungrateful, but it felt like I was living half a life. It took time to pull myself out of that victim’s mentality. It took over a year with hours of therapy and cognitive rehabilitation to rebuild my mind and body.
Fortunately, it’s always easier to get back to where you were, than having to start from scratch. Being in stellar health before the incident gave me a advantageous head start.
“What’s it Like Being in a Coma?”
I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me: “Is it like the movies” “Can you predict lotto numbers” “Do you see tunnels and bright lights”
My reply with my dry sense of humor is always the same: “It was so boring that I slept through the whole thing” But it couldn’t be further from the truth.
During my time in the coma, I went through what I can only describe as a profound spiritual journey that changed my perspective on life. It’s something that I hope to share in a future post.
What Happened to the “Eww” Girl?
Spoiler alert: She’s now my girlfriend, and we’ve been together for four years
Back when I woke up in hospital, (still being pumped full of the fun drugs) my family would show me a picture of a pretty girl who looked very familiar, hoping it would jog my memory. But brain just couldn’t recognize her.
It was that feeling when you have something at the tip of your tongue, but sadly my brain was still on vacation.
This scared me — what if she was somebody important? What if I never remembered her? What if I had kids running around that I don’t remember making?!
She was freaking out too. Way more, actually. Thinking it was over.
Serves her right! (Just kidding.)
Fortunately, my memory of her came back after a few weeks. Crisis averted! No superpowers or lotto number unfortunately though.
Returning to Rocket Science
I wasn’t surprised to learn that my pre-coma self was in his third year of aeronautical engineering. Classic overachiever.
Despite the challenges, I returned to finish what I’d started. My flawed and questionable logic was that the best way to learn how to swim is by throwing yourself into the deep end of the pool. So, I found the biggest, deepest pool I could and dived in headfirst.
I had another brilliant idea: instead of taking the easy route of choosing a well-documented aircraft for my project, I went and chose something nearly impossible.
One of the most complex aircraft imaginable — a supersonic, classified 5th Generation Chinese fighter jet that had no public information available. Despite literally being “Made in China”, this project was no joke and pushed me to my limits.
I had to work twice as hard as everyone else becuse of my memory, handwriting and other complications I returned with. But in doing so, I forced myself to develop the skills I was lacking. Even managing to pass modules that others were repeating. It left me with a powerful thought:
If I can do this with all my limitations, setbacks and not even having a fair chance…What else am I capable of?
Skipping ahead to better things
From Report Writing to Writing on Medium
Returning to campus required a module on report writing. I stumbled upon an interesting fact: The second most Googled search after “How to become a pilot” is “How to become a writer.”
Now, as I take a break from campus, I’m realizing that maybe my purpose isn’t to or build or fly planes — but maybe to share my journey.
Why You Should Follow Me
I’ve always thought that this was a laughable section to include on and about me post so as an experiment I asked ChatGPT to spit one out for me and the result was even more laughable. Brace yourself:
This is your invitation to grow, to laugh, to learn, and to be motivated.
Join me! and let’s conquer the impossible together!”
I couldn’t help myself from giggling over these absurd claims:
“Connoisseur of resilience” …Modest, aren’t we?
Oh look, another “Journey unlike any other”
“Join me!” …Really? Sounds like the invitation to a cult plotting to take over the world
“Can transform ordinary lives into extraordinary ones” … Bold promises. I’m sure this one would have hurt some feelings.
And what does “fervour” even mean?
The Truth
While I’m no “connoisseur of resilience,” I do know a thing or two about hitting rock bottom and climbing back up. Yes, I want to share my journey, along with the tools, content, and lessons that helped me overcome obstacles and maybe inspire others. But at the same time, I’d like to use this platform to share my random thoughts and ideas.
My journey is all about finding balance — mixing the determination of my past self with the resilience of my present. I pursue my dreams and goals but without being held back by who I once was.
Plus, engineers are known for their technical boring black and white writing. I will not be reprimanded by my professors for my creative and colorful expression on Medium.
And let me not bash AI too much though. When I asked it for image representing my journey journey, it far exceeded my expectations by producing this:
AI generated image of my Journey From brain injury to rocket science to writing
Why Riddles?
Riddles are a great way to challenge your mind and outside of the box thinking. Every post, I’ll share a new one.
They have been an essential and fun way in rebuilding my mental agility and creativity while forcing me to look at problems from different angles. I want to give you a taste of what that journey was like.
Back in school, we didn’t have much internet access, so I loved stumping my friends with riddles and watching them beg for the answers
These days, I’m aware that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that anyone could just go google the answers in minutes. But I challenge you to give it some thought first before you cheat!😂
Looking ahead and embracing the climb
That’s it! If you’ve made it this far, thank you. This is my first Medium post, and it took years to find the courage to tell my story in a way that I think is engaging and relatable. I’m excited to continue writing and engaging with other writers and readers in this wonderful community. Thanks again for reading! Please share your thoughts and insights. It would be greatly appreciated
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